Azorean Whalemen: A Photographic Retrospective Opens in New Bedford on Sept. 6

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NEW BEDFORD –Photographers Gemina Garland-Lewis and O. Luis Mazzatenta explore the people and cultural history of Azorean whaling in Azorean Whalemen: A Photographic Retrospective, a new exhibition opening on Wednesday, September 6, 2017 at 6pm at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

The opening is free and open to the public.

Azorean Whalemen showcases Mazzatenta’s images shot while on assignment for National Geographic magazine in 1976, when whaling was still actively occurring in the Azores, and juxtaposes it with photographs taken by Lewis in 2012, 26 years after the last whale was killed there.

Lewis’ images were the result of a National Geographic Young Explorers Grant, which aimed to document the stories and images of the last living Azorean whalers.

Although Lewis’ and Mazzatenta’s photographs are separated by more than three decades, both artists worked in similar locations and even photographed some of the same men.

The exhibition highlights the changes over time and allows viewers to see the “then” and “now” of Azorean whaling.

Whaling has ended in the Azores, but its heritage lives on in the unique design of the 40-foot Azorean whaleboat.

The exhibition coincides with the 9th International Azorean Whaleboat Regatta, hosted by the Azorean Maritime Heritage Society (AMHS) in New Bedford on September 8-10.

The Whaling Museum and AMHS have been unwavering partners since the Society’s founding in 1997 and have worked together to promote Portuguese maritime history and culture in the community, and to raise awareness of more than 150 years of connections between New Bedford and the Azores.